City Council members from around the state and the Texas Municipal League have argued that the act violates free-speech rights. Elected officials, the plaintiffs say, should not be prevented from communicating with one another outside public meetings.

But the act is not a “content-based restriction on political speech,” the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals said in upholding a trial court’s ruling. “The statute does not apply to government officials because of any hostility to their views.”

The appeals court reiterated the lower court’s summary of the harm caused by closed meetings: They “(1) prevent transparency; (2) encourage fraud and corruption; and (3) foster mistrust in government.”

The case dates to 2004, when council members in the West Texas town of Alpine discussed public business via email. Two were criminally charged with violating the act, although the indictments were later dismissed. They sued state officials and later were joined by other plaintiffs, including city council members from Arlington, Hurst, Heath and Joshua in North Texas.

Violating the act remains a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500 or a jail term of up to six months. Prosecutions are rare.